Comments on: Open things up https://rachelgraves.com/2011/02/08/open-things-up/ Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, and Paranormal Romance Sun, 15 May 2011 15:47:41 +0000 hourly 1 By: Jami Gold https://rachelgraves.com/2011/02/08/open-things-up/comment-page-1/#comment-41 Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:12:10 +0000 http://www.rachelgraves.info/?p=76#comment-41 Oh, great post! Yes, you’re right that references – whether to pop culture or some other type of culture – are shortcuts. Like some books will say their hero wears Armani as a shortcut to pointing out his wealth or good taste.

A little of that can be helpful if that fits with the tone of the book, but more than a couple starts being lazy writing. Just because it has to do with pop culture doesn’t make it exempt from the reasons to avoid using cliches.

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